


Immutable

by CatKing_Catkin



Series: Cheer Up The Skeleton Week [3]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluffy Ending, Love, M/M, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route, Snow, Talking, Undertale Monsters on the Surface
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-16
Updated: 2016-12-16
Packaged: 2018-09-09 01:12:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8869951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CatKing_Catkin/pseuds/CatKing_Catkin
Summary: Written for the "Cheer Up The Skeleton" week on tumblr, Day 3 - prompt "the outdoors". The weather outside is frightful, but Sans' boyfriend is a built-in space heater, and that makes it easier to bear while he waits for Papyrus to come and pick him up. Sans cuddles up to Grillby after closing one night, reflects on how far he's come, and tries not to worry about how long it will last. Fortunately, his boyfriend is very good at being reassuring, too. He's had a lot of practice.





	

"you don't have to wait with me, grillby."

_"I know."_

Predictably, all of Grillby's money was going towards paying off his new restaurant here on the surface. Business was brisk, especially from all the monsters in the area that were hungry for a little taste of home, but a car was still a ways away as a purchase. Fortunately, Grillby had gotten creative with securing a living space about the restaurant. Unfortunately, everything was so much bigger on the surface, and so that meant that walking home or even being walked home every night was no longer a really feasible option for Sans. Instead, Sans took the bus over, and called at closing time for Papyrus to come and get him.

Sans usually waited outside, just to be out of Grillby's way while his friend cleaned up for the night. But everything was so much bigger on the surface, and that included winters. His hoodie had always been enough in Snowdin. The cold had never really bothered Sans before. Now, it seemed to go right through him and leave him shuddering hard enough to ache on bad days.

He was genuinely looking forward to the lecture he knew he'd get form Papyrus about being too lazy to buy proper winter clothes. It would be well-deserved, especially since nowadays it really was carelessness or forgetfulness rather than apathy that made Sans drag his feet on such things. And it would still be a lecture borne only of concern, because there were some things about his brother that never changed and that Sans hoped never would.

Tonight, at least, Grillby had taken pity on the woefully underprepared skeleton, and come outside to sit on the bench and wait for Papyrus with him. He had even let Sans lean against him, and wrapped an arm around his shoulders to hold him there. There were a great many benefits to his more-than-friendship with Grillby, even if Sans still had some difficulty articulating what their more-than-friendship was and Grillby never saw the need to. Somehow, Sans has never really appreciated this one in particular until this, their first winter on the surface.  

The kiss Grillby pressed to the top of his skull was another. _"Though...why did you come outside to wait, if you were so cold? You know I would have let you stay inside, Sans. I only let you come out here ordinarily because I always assumed you wanted a moment to yourself."_

"nah. moments to myself are kinda overrated. i just, uh, like watching the stars. they're a lot easier to see, this time of year. funny how that works. but...heh. now that you mention it, i always kinda assumed you'd want the same thing, grillby. a little peace and quiet after a night feeding the hungry masses."

 _"You hardly take up much space, Sans._ He could hear the smile in Grillby's voice even without lifting his head. _"And what space you do, I am happy to provide."_

Nothing quite warmed you up from the inside-out like a kiss from a fire elemental, and so Sans smiled happily and accepted another one. It went right down to the soul, which always seemed to burn a little brighter no matter how accustomed he'd thought he'd grown to the affection. He couldn't return it in quite the same way, of course, but Grillby never seemed to mind head-nudges and hand-holding instead. It was all about the emotion conveyed, for monsters, and Sans had gotten a lot better at that.

"guess we all have a lot more space up here."

_"That is one of the great benefits of freedom, yes."_

"if you ever wanted more space...you'd tell me, right? i mean, uh...this entire thing. all of this." Sans motioned to encompass the street around them and the town in general and the surface in its entirety, all with a wave of one bony hand that he immediately stuck back between his body and Grillby's. "we're all learning some new boundaries, up here."

Grillby pulled away, just a little. Despite the chill, Sans let him, and obeyed the unspoken request to look up at his oldest friend.

The other monster's eyes were bright as stars behind his glasses, as he gently rested both his hands on either side of Sans' face to make sure their eyes stayed on one another. _"No matter how many chances you give me to change my mind, Sans,"_ He said solemnly. _"It isn't ever going to happen."_

It wasn't the first time they'd had this conversation. Sans knew himself well enough to know that it probably wasn't going to be the last. He still grinned weakly to hear those words once more anyway, felt a laugh of relief bubbling up his spine. Maybe he was just still getting used to the knowledge that people would remember what he said on a day-to-day basis. It was an enjoyable thing to get used to, at least. "good thing i know better than to argue with you, grillby," he said, leaning against the other monster once more.  

 _"A very good thing."_ Grillby wrapped an arm around him without hesitation, and Sans sighed contentedly to feel the cold chased from his bones once more. _"Your tab thanks you for it."_

"it's just...you're so important to everybody up here, grillby. even more than you were down there. guess i'm still just kind of amazed you still have anything in you to give, after a night like tonight."

_"For you? I have all of this, and more."_

"maybe one day i'll figure out how to give something back."

_"Maybe one day you'll believe me when I say that you already do."_

Sans didn't protest the point. He really did know better than that, now, and life had been happier for it. He might not have always understood Grillby's feelings. But the journey towards that understanding, with not just Grillby but everyone who seemed to agree with those words, had been a happy one so far.

The silence between them was heavy but peaceful, and Sans didn't realize until Grillby shook him awake that he'd started to doze against his friend's side. He looked up to see a pair of headlights at the end of the street, drawing closer, and the familiar outline of Papyrus' car behind the light.

Grillby got to his feet, and offered Sans a hand up off the bench. Sans stretched, lazy and languid, and accepted the help.  

He hadn't even realized until then that it was beginning to snow.  


End file.
